The Apprentice Analysed

The Apprentice Week 11: Litner’s aggressive questionning

I always look forward to the penultimate round of interviews in the Apprentice.  I would like to be able to say it is because of the unique insights they offer into the candidates.  If I am being honest, though, it is because the interviewer’s tactics are often so crude that I find my jaw dropping in a style that even James would be proud of.

Tonight, one interviewer did not disappoint.  If you ask the question, “Which of the interviewers would you least like to be interviewed by?” the obvious answer would seem to be Claude Litner.

His overly aggressive, crass questioning style is typical of the trap that a lot of interviewers fall into when they are trying to test how candidates respond in stressful situations.

Even if this style was a good measure of remaining calm under fire, the problem remains that it is such a tired, old, predictable technique that candidates will simply put on their protective armour before they go into battle.  Result: answers give no real insight and as Litner himself admitted, he was left feeling that candidates were simply giving the answers he wanted to hear. 

The intelligent questioning and probing that was lacking in Litner’s approach was, however, consistently evident in Karen Brady’s interviews.  Her deft thinking allowed her to challenge Debra’s feeble explanation for why others might describe her as a bitch.

Whilst Litner described Kate’s answers as perfect, Brady’s subtler questioning resulted in Kate describing herself as the very thing that she finds hardest to deal with in the workplace – a whingey, moany woman. 

Which brings us to the candidates. As much as I have enjoyed James’ bizarre turns of phrase, I don’t think he can start getting offended at this stage by people suggesting he is a bit of a joker.

  Anyone who describes themselves as bringing ignorance to the table and as a wheel that needs a couple of spokes mending can hardy be surprised when others question his seriousness. Likening Sir Alan to Willy Wonka was the icing on the cake.

Fourth place: Lorraine.  The big turning point for Lorraine in this series, without a doubt, was when Margaret described her as the Cassandra of the group.  Her confidence grew and she started to push her “unique talent” of insight.

The problem remains, however, that while her insight may often be accurate, she still lacks the ability to persuade others.  Insight without persuasion is like a Porsche without fuel:  great to have, but going nowhere. 

Third place: Debra. There is no doubt that Debra has big potential. Huge. But would you have her in your team? Would you want to be managed by her?

People have suggested that her aggressive style is due to her relative inexperience, but I have known five-year olds with better insight into their impact on others and what they need to do about it. Magnanimous in defeat, she thanked the team for their feedback and said she would take it with her.  I am sure she will, but I suspect it will be as a badge of honour along with the references that describe her as obnoxious and someone who causes other people to put in complaints. 

We first commented on her inability to listen to feedback back in week 2.  She has since had nine weeks to change her style, plus more feedback on top.  If she was going to act on the feedback, those nine weeks were her best chance to do so.  

And so to the final. Kate and Yasmina have occupied the top two positions in our Apprentice league table all the way since Week 3 and they both deserve their place in Sunday’s challenge.

The fact that Kate thinks being described as a robot is a compliment probably says as much about romance today as it does about Kate; however this robotic persona is a problem for her.

Although one of the key characteristics of effective leaders is an ability to be calm under pressure, Kate takes this to the extreme and has shown little emotion throughout the series.  The problem is that people feel they don’t know the real her – and this means that deep down they don’t know if they can trust her.

Kate may well be a safe choice for delivering tough projects, but this doesn’t make her the right Apprentice.  Yasmina appears to be the obvious choice for Sir Alan’s next Apprentice…but since when has the obvious choice been the final choice?

Nic Sale
Head of Diversity
Pearn Kandola